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I must have killed too many braincells yesterday, because I am watching NASCAR qualifying right now. Edit: I guess this was a rebroadcast.

I did not think it possible to combine Chess, Poker, The Lottery, with a small bit of driving. But, NASCAR has done it. Cars going 200, 30, and stopped on track, sometimes at the same time. Someone is going to get hurt.

I don't think any of this idiocy translates to F1, but given some of the nonsense spewing forth from the FIA lately, I would not put it passed them.

Lol, I'm sure Marco is a smart guy, you don't become Head of regional anything if you're a dummy. But man, that look on his face just screams "I'm out of my element and I'm freaking out while trying to keep a calm demeanor".

Boy, Hamilton sure looked spooked today after qualy. He really telegraphs how out of his mind he is. I think he should hang out more with Nikki and try to channel the grit that comes with having things go awry during a championship year. He just doesn't have the steely presence of Nikki, Alain, Ayrton, Fred, etc. If he mind****s this season away, it'll be harder than ever to get back to that level.

Hamilton back on top and Nico gets the bad luck today! I know some think this is boring, but it looks like it will come down to the end of the season and Merc is letting their drivers race.

It was great to see Vettel finally pass Alonso. With that pass, Williams is now right behind Ferrari in the constructors title. FI and McLaren aren't to far behined as well. Speaking of McLaren, is it me or is Button looking more competitive over the last four or five races? Lets not forget Bottas. If he keeps this up, he might just finish up in third place at seasons end.

Dare I suggest that Hamilton is finally growing up. His charge from fifth to second at the start really impressed me and put him in the position to get the win after Nico's car broke. I also really enjoyed the battle between Vettel and Alonso, although a place on the podium wasn't at stake.

Back to Hamilton, though. As rattled as he was after qualifying yesterday, I was really impressed with his ability to put all that behind him and to come back from being behind the eight ball with an almost perfect drive in the race. It probably wouldn't have happened if Nico's car hadn't failed but, in the immortal words of Dizzy Dean, "It ain't braggin' is you done it.

Dare I suggest that Hamilton is finally growing up. His charge from fifth to second at the start really impressed me and put him in the position to get the win after Nico's car broke. I also really enjoyed the battle between Vettel and Alonso, although a place on the podium wasn't at stake.

Back to Hamilton, though. As rattled as he was after qualifying yesterday, I was really impressed with his ability to put all that behind him and to come back from being behind the eight ball with an almost perfect drive in the race. It probably wouldn't have happened if Nico's car hadn't failed but, in the immortal words of Dizzy Dean, "It ain't braggin' is you done it.

Nahhh. If Nico's car had not broken, we would have had another mopey Hamilton complaining that the team's strategy and crap pit stops screwed him again. Twenty four hours ago, he was shell shocked and dispondent over his bonehead move to abort his last quali lap (giving up a sure P2). THAT was the real Hamilton.

No one doubts his pace, and getting into 2nd during the race while driving the best car on the grid would only have been a surprise if he did not pull it off.

As for other highlights the Seb/Fred battle was classic, Seb's whining not withstanding.

As for other highlights the Seb/Fred battle was classic, Seb's whining not withstanding.

They were both crying pretty hard but yeah, that was fantastic. Interlocking open wheels and not a single touch from either of them. That was a welcome skills display. I'm also glad that Charlie didn't get crazy about the "four wheels over" thingy. Gotta let em race sometimes.

BTW thank God Kimi is OK. I got that unwelcome chilly feeling when that first happened.That was as ugly as crashes get.

I'm not convinced that HAM would have caught ROS if Nico didn't have the tranny problem. Apparently it started on lap 20. We will never know.

Did Ricciardo one stop? By the time I realized he was going to finish in front of Seb, I also realized that I had no idea how that happened.

Good to see Mclaren do well finally. Those cars are too good looking to be stuck in the back.

Williams seems to have been up and down all season, but you are correct it looks like they might have turned the corner. If they brought Pastor back, then they might win a race.

Who would have thought that at the beginning of the season that Daniel and Valteri could end up in third and fourth place in the drivers standings? Of course there is an entire half season for Vettel to turn things around.

BTW thank God Kimi is OK. I got that unwelcome chilly feeling when that first happened.That was as ugly as crashes get.

Same here. That crash looked awful, and when the marshall ran up and kneeled down...with what appeared to be no movement from the car...ugh.

Glad to hear all he's got are some bruises. Reminds me a bit of the Kubica/Montreal crash, amazing to see the safety of these vehicles.

With the Vettel/Alonso fight, the on-board camera of Vettel when their wheels were overlapping - was I the only one that thought it looked like Vettel kept juking just a bit to the left (towards Alonso)?

Same here. That crash looked awful, and when the marshall ran up and kneeled down...with what appeared to be no movement from the car...ugh.

Glad to hear all he's got are some bruises. Reminds me a bit of the Kubica/Montreal crash, amazing to see the safety of these vehicles.

With the Vettel/Alonso fight, the on-board camera of Vettel when their wheels were overlapping - was I the only one that thought it looked like Vettel kept juking just a bit to the left (towards Alonso)?

-JR

Seemed to me that there was a lot of juking both ways.

In Vettel's case though, his jukes were synchronized to his petulant school girl screams that Fred was driving beyond the course boundaries. I guess he somehow had to grab his sack to get his voice up that high, which caused an involuntary twitch of the remaining hand holding the wheel. Somehow the camera failed to catch that, though.:-)

In Vettel's case though, his jukes were synchronized to his petulant school girl screams that Fred was driving beyond the course boundaries. I guess he somehow had to grab his sack to get his voice up that high, which caused an involuntary twitch of the remaining hand holding the wheel. Somehow the camera failed to catch that, though.:-)

I'm not exactly a Vettel fan... but it must be said that Alonso did his fair share of *****ing and moaning as well, albeit at a lower pitch And a couple of those defensive moves by Alonso sure looked illegal to me. Much more than what Perez did to Massa in Canada.

I can see his point. If it had been Maldonado, the villagers would be surrounding his windmill with torches and pitch forks. The track has to take some blame for their being a dip of that magnitude right at the track edge. But I don't buy his argument that this could have been avoided if Kimi did a track walk such that he was aware of the dip. At the speed he was going, he was simply trying to get the car back on the racing surface. I don't know that he had an opportunity to adjust his trajectory beyond not hitting anything.

I am inclined to go along with his additional critique of the track for using asphalt run-off rather than kitty litter, but kitty litter has its own problems, like flipping cars.

The FIA met after Silverstone to talk about ways to keep drivers from exceeding the circuit limits. One of the proposals was a new track layout standard. I think I read where Ken Block was quoted as saying "Yeah. Cool. Bring it on". :-)

I can see his point. If it had been Maldonado, the villagers would be surrounding his windmill with torches and pitch forks. The track has to take some blame for their being a dip of that magnitude right at the track edge. But I don't buy his argument that this could have been avoided if Kimi did a track walk such that he was aware of the dip. At the speed he was going, he was simply trying to get the car back on the racing surface. I don't know that he had an opportunity to adjust his trajectory beyond not hitting anything.

I am inclined to go along with his additional critique of the track for using asphalt run-off rather than kitty litter, but kitty litter has its own problems, like flipping cars.

In general though, he is not getting much support for his position.

Yeah he's being just a little harsh there. That culvert had no business being there but it was a mistake to learn from like everything else. No need to get crazy for every single thing that happens. Learn and move on.

Although sand and gravel can flip a car, I believe that if they were used, the deterrent factor would stop 98 percent of the off track excursions anyway. Doesn't matter. They obviously aren't coming back.

Yeah he's being just a little harsh there. That culvert had no business being there but it was a mistake to learn from like everything else. No need to get crazy for every single thing that happens. Learn and move on.

Although sand and gravel can flip a car, I believe that if they were used, the deterrent factor would stop 98 percent of the off track excursions anyway. Doesn't matter. They obviously aren't coming back.

I thought it was pretty reckless of Kimi myself. First he wasn't forced off the track, that was all him. Next he drives along on the side at high speed for what seemed like a quarter mile, then goes over grass. I dunno about a benching, but a grid penalty and a stern warning for sure.

Well if he does get penalized then there will need to be rules for drivers who do the same thing but don't cause a wreck. I see an example of a driver keeping his foot buried while outside the lines almost every race. In Canada both Merc drivers did it. Lewis came fairly close to the wall on re-entry too. All are taking the same chance. I'm all for the "stern warnings" but all these penalties are getting to be a little much.

Well if he does get penalized then there will need to be rules for drivers who do the same thing but don't cause a wreck. I see an example of a driver keeping his foot buried while outside the lines almost every race. In Canada both Merc drivers did it. Lewis came fairly close to the wall on re-entry too. All are taking the same chance. I'm all for the "stern warnings" but all these penalties are getting to be a little much.

I kinda sorta agree. If someone goes off the track (not forced off) they need to rejoin immediately, if they have to slow way down and let a bunch of cars pass, that's just tough ****. I need to re-watch it, but I thought Kimi could have just slowed down a bit and been right back inside the line with very little time lost. Yes it was bad luck that he hit the ditch the way he did, but had he rejoined there without issue that still deserved a drive through penalty (not the 5 second variety that Alonso got, which was fair for what he did IMO).

They need to take less subjectivity out of the penalties, if they say you can't go over the lines at this corner, then they need to penalize drivers for it (and I'm speaking of Vettel and Alonso here) or say never mind, its OK. Not give them 15 warnings.